A fresh confrontation between organised labour and the Federal Government is escalating into a broader labour crisis, as the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has warned that the enforcement of a “no work, no pay” directive and the stoppage of salaries of health workers could destabilise an already fragile healthcare system and deepen social and economic pressures.

The congress has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to withdraw a circular ordering implementation of the policy and the suspension of salaries of members of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), effective this month.

At the heart of the dispute is a policy approach that labour leaders argue prioritises fiscal control over service sustainability, human capital retention and industrial peace at a time when Nigeria’s health sector is struggling with acute workforce shortages, underfunding and rising emigration of skilled professionals.

In a statement signed yesterday by the TUC President, Festus Osifo and the General Secretary, Dr Nuhu Toro, the body described the circular, which was signed by the Director of Hospital Services, Dr Abisola Adegoke, as authoritarian and economically short-sighted.